The Ancient Art of Tibetan Butter Sculpture

North American Kagyu Monlam Torma Report

While preparations for the first North American Kagyu Monlam were underway, some of the highly-trained torma artist monks and nuns, who had been documented and interviewed by the Torma Film crew in 2008 and 2009, were invited to Karma Triyana Dharmachakra (Woodstock, New York) to make the butter sculptures for the NAKM. One of the Kagyu Monlam umdzes, Sonam Paljor, from Rumtek Monastery, was also invited to KTD to lead the chanting.

As monlam preparations progressed, the lamas and staff at KTD were disappointed to learn that the torma artists were denied visas to enter the U.S. Only the umdze, Sonam Paljor, was able to obtain a visa. The KTD administration, under the direction of Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, hastily assembled a crew of North American-based torma-makers to prepare the butter sculptures.

Though none of these lamas had taken part in the formal training in India for making the Kagyu Monlam butter sculptures, they were able to view a one-hour video, prepared by the Torma Film crew, detailing the step-by-step process the Tibetan artists had developed to create their magnificent butter sculptures for the International Kagyu Monlam in India.